Posts by Rochelle Borton
Reflecting on your successes this year
December 1 is the 335th day of the year and the first day of Summer. Human Rights Day is celebrated on December 10. The 2022 theme: Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All. The ’30-day’ race toward 2023 begins in earnest. The school year is almost behind you. End of year Professional learning; new English and…
Read More21st Century Learners
“Everything changes and nothing remains still…and you cannot step twice into the same stream.” Heraclitus Education is changing. It is more than new curriculum and policies, longer days and little thanks, the work of teachers and school leaders continue to play the most significant role in the growth and development of our society. It is…
Read MoreTake a moment for yourself
“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails” John Maxwell I can only imagine school leadership being something like sailing. It could almost be so as the constant stream of new policies, curriculum updates and compliance deadlines throwing you around a bubbling sea. Some days you…
Read MoreTerm 4 is here! Professional learning, planning for 2023 and self-care
Racing toward summer holidays, rest, and recovery. Time to take a breath. Family, friends, and a moment for self. Term 4 is here! Congratulations to our wonderful teachers and school leaders who have worked hard and made it to the end of another school year. It is not hard to understand the current campaigns of…
Read MoreHow often do you think about reading for pleasure?
“Reading is a joy, a desperately needed escape — I don’t read to learn, I read to read”. Christian Bauman There is an ocean of descriptions and observations about reading, and the pleasure in reading. Nora Epheon wrote “Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after…
Read MoreReading for pleasure (why it is important)
Roberts (2010) argues that leisure is an important part of modern industrial societies. The time available for leisure is balanced between the interaction of social, psychological, and cultural dimensions of society. Medaille (2011) identified that reading for pleasure is important in the healthy development of self-identification, self-construction, and self-awareness. The importance of literacy in schools…
Read MoreWhy I should leave the laptop at school this weekend?
Hewlett-Packard was one of the pioneers of portable computers, releasing a laptop in 1987. Soon after Apple introduced the first-ever battery-powered laptop in 1989. The convenience of a laptop computer drove productivity and opened a portal toward working on the road. Excel spreadsheets became the fashion with financial managers and then mobile phones and later,…
Read MoreTerm 3, but who is counting?
It is almost unimaginable that the school year once spread across 2 and then 3 terms. Up until 1987, this was the school year that teachers and school leaders had to manage. Term three was often 13 weeks, the seasons moved from autumn and into winter. In a three-term year, mid-term three was tough. Tidiness,…
Read MoreAccreditation v Compliance
Colin Thompson tells the story about the Puzzle duck who was once asked by a puzzled frog where the sun goes every night. It is a bit like the question of how teacher accreditation intersects with compliance of mandatory training in teaching. The Teacher Accreditation Act 2004 (NSW) determined all teachers must attain the status of…
Read MoreWhy does workload matter?
Schools are dynamic and ever-changing. Just when you think you are on top of one element of the workload, another task demands attention. Teachers and school leaders face waves of administration, data collection, and student needs that are increasing as well as constant demand on time in school and out. The recent industrial action of…
Read More